Facing the music: Stanford Band faces partial suspension for violating university policies

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Members of the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band, or Stanford band, perform during the opening ceremonies for Special Olympics Northern California in San Rafael, Calif. Saturday, May 17, 2014. Teams from Marin, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Shasta and Sonoma counties competed in aquatics, track and field and tennis at Terra Linda High School. (Jeremy Portje/special to The Marin Independent Journal)

The Stanford Cardinal band preforms during practice for their Final Four appearance for the NCAA college basketball tournament at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. on Saturday, April 5, 2014. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

PALO ALTO — The famously irreverent Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band is in trouble again.

On Friday, the university said it was barring the band from performing at away athletic events, including post-season games, for the 2015-16 academic year as the result of an investigation that found it had run afoul policies on alcohol, controlled substances, hazing and sexual harassment.

The band will be allowed, however, to play at home.

In addition to the partial suspension, the band must undergo training on the policies and change its events to comply with them. No alcohol will be allowed at its events for one year.

Deborah Golder, associate vice provost and dean of Residential Education, said the investigation noted that band leadership has worked in recent years to make improvements in the band’s culture and accountability. The reforms seek to continue that progress, she said.

“The university’s objective is to ensure a safe and harassment-free environment while honoring the band’s traditions and its unique, irreverent identity,” Golder said. “We hope the band will use this outcome as a positive platform for further strengthening its culture and ensuring the band’s vibrancy and good stewardship in the years ahead.”

Stanford’s Organization Conduct Board and Title IX Office launched the investigation after learning of concerns regarding events the band held for members between 2012 and 2015.

The university said the investigation uncovered numerous violations, including a tradition in which a band member was given an alcoholic concoction to make that individual vomit publicly, an annual trip in which some band members used illegal substances, and a band selection process in which individuals asked a number of inappropriate questions on sexual matters.

In a statement posted to its Facebook page, the band said many of the violations took place during the 2011-12 academic year, when most of its current members were still in high school, and that it has since changed for the better. But the band acknowledged more work needs to be done.

“There are aspects of Band culture which are no longer in line with our values, and we accept that, despite tremendous growth, we have further to go,” the statement said. “The results of this investigation are valuable, and they give us further opportunity to create a safe space on campus for students to express themselves freely.”

The band is no stranger to trouble. In 1986, members allegedly urinated on the field during a football game and spelled out offensive words at another, leading to a temporary suspension.

The band was disciplined again in 1994 after members skipped rehearsal to play songs including The Zombies’ “She’s Not There” outside the Los Angeles County Courthouse during jury selection for the O.J. Simpson trial. Later that year, members drove a white Ford Bronco with bloody handprints around Stanford Stadium during a game against USC, Simpson’s alma mater.

More recently, the university placed the band on “indefinite provisional status” in 2006 after its former rehearsal space, the Band Shak, was vandalized by members who claimed they thought the structure was going to be demolished. The band was fully reinstated in 2007.

In its statement, the band vowed to continue offering members a “space to act out, to explore, to play poorly.”

“To anyone who expects that this will silence us, you haven’t gotten the memo,” the statement said.

“We believe that we can and must continue to improve our culture without censoring ourselves or conforming to the polished standards of polite silence. You can expect more rallies, more noise, and more surprises. We are still the Stanford Band, and we believe in our mission to bring funk to the funkless. We won’t go away, and we won’t stop being weird.”

Jason Green is a breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He works week nights and spends most of his time covering crime and public safety. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the University of Southern California, he cut his teeth at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and the Palo Alto Daily News, and has been with the Bay Area News Group since its inception.